i want to bring in now journal jack jacobs. colonel jack, with always good to have you with your perspective here at these times. we know the syrian government is saying it intercepted most of those missiles sent by the u.s. and its allies. there's that video claiming to show its success. but when it comes to the united states and france and britain firing over 100 missiles at those three syrian targets, we know the goal was to degrade and also deter the operations here. how effective was this intervention in the near and also far term? >> well, we send a lot of missiles to one target. these are three times as many targets and lots more missiles pa because some of them might not survive to get to the target. they may get intercepted, may get jammed. but also, we need lots of missiles because we need to be able to penetrate the target itself. certainly that many missiles at three targets probably has a high on degree of confidence that the targets were destroyed. with respect to getting rid of his capability to wage chemical war,

colonel jack jacobs, stick around with us. still ahead, we are going live to tehran to get the reaction from there. you are watching msnbc's coverage of the us, british and french strikes against syria. loved to smile; and we knew he would need braces because his teeth were coming in funny. that's when he had the bunny rabbits. we called him the bunny rabbit. now, those are the same two front teeth, there, that they are now. then dray ended up having to wear braces for 5 years because he never made it to appointments, because he was busy playing basketball. if he missed practice, he don't get to play in the game. this is the picture that was on the front page of the newspaper. all you can notice is the braces! then, once he got to michigan state, he broke the retainer! my bottom teeth, they were really crooked, and i just wasn't getting braces again. smile direct club fits into my lifestyle so well. the liner is so great. it's easy to just grab it and go and then i can change on the road. i did photoshoots with my aligners in

the cia and department of defense, josh lederman with the associated press, retired army colonel jack jacobs, medal of honor recipient and msnbc analyst and pediatrician and a volunteer with the syrian-american medical society. let's again with you, doctor, if i may. what are you hearing about the situation on the ground over the past 24 hours that has left sam owes and other organizations to believe it was the syrian government behind this attack? >> well, with respect to the attacks themselves, they are very consistent with use of chlorine. chlorine itself is a heavy gas, and it permeates deep down to the shelters where people are hiding from conventional attacks. it's an effective way to kill someone that's hiding very low. it causes a very painful and quick, high effective form of execution so from that standpoint we have to consider that whoever has access to chemical weapons is going to be able to execute this kind of attack. >> let me get your reaction to the comments that have been coming out of both the russian and iranian government. they are both describing this as fake news. what

retired army colonel jack jacobs. he is one of only 71 living recipients of the medal of honor.untries with militarized borders. you have passed through a number of checkpoints. always it's an opportunity to check your surroundings. very colorful graphic. very basic question, is this the kind of thing we do? >> no. well, we do it from time to time. obama send some federalized troops down there. george bush did too. but none of these troops were and these aren't going to be folks who are going to set up machine gun nests and take pot shots at illegal aliens coming across the rio grande river. they're going to be there to support the border patrol. they're going to take them around in helicopters so they can survey the area, going to put out sensors, going to develop intelligence, we're going to support them with logistics and administration. it's not going to be the army of the united states defending the republic along the rio grande river. >> nor can you hand them mres and say thank you so much for your service, lots of luck. they need encampments, places to sleep, contractors

and colonel jack jacobs. jack, let me start with you. what do you foresee?>> well, he waited a long time to make some kind of announcement they're going to conduct strikes. the last time in april when the strikes were conducted it was shortly after the gas attacks. and when you wait a long time and what you're after is punishment, the longer the distance is between the crime and the punishment the less impact it really has. but the white house has been trying to get support for this among allies. and the emir of qatar was in town recently to talk about it. i don't think that the president wants to do it alone, would really like to have -- his military advisers would like to have some support. but at the end of the day he promised an attack and he's going to have to deliver. so he's probably going to say that he's going to attack and not that he's going to wait some more and decide later. >> congresswoman barbara lee, you were the lone vote in the house against the authorization to use military force, which of course has been used to justify american military

. >> colonel jack jacobs. stick around. i want to bring in, ambassador michael mcfall, former ambassador to russia, mnbc, international affairs analyst. i want to peck ick up on russia response. it looks like the russian maze be breathing a sigh of relief. united states operation was not as expansive, perhaps did not, target other facility that might have been joint facilities between the russians and the syrians according to the initial assessments getting out of syria. give us the mind set of how russia may be viewing the operations this evening? >> well i think you summed it up, rather nicely. i think, 48 hours ago, after a tweet by the president, threatening vladamir putin personally. there was a fear if you listen to what official were saying in moscow, and their media, that this was going to be a major sustained campaign. and even what the president said in his address tonight. you might have thought that. but the actual military operation was finite. number two, they coordinated through the channel of communication t

army colonel jack jacobs, a heavily decorated combat veteran in vietnam.one of only 71 living recipients of the medal of honor. malcolm nance joins us as well. he's a veteran of naval intelligence and counterterrorism, also a veteran of u.s. operations against syria in the 1980s. both gentlemen are msnbc analysts. malcolm, you can begin. kpl l. what do you think? what do you think about when something could happen? i guess the window is open now. >> well, the window generally opens around 4:00 p.m. eastern standard time and goes until about 11:00 p.m. that's the area of operations we like to be in is nighttime. and these night operations give us the advantage. a lot of systems in syria are very rudimentary, 1960s, '70s. they have some modern technology in their anti-aircraft defense systems, but they have a relatively low-level visual system outside of the russian air defense systems that they have. when i carried out the first air strike or helped participate in the first air strike in 1983, it was a very simple operation. we fly an alpha package, a strik

joining me is jack jacobs, msnbc military analyst. thank you for joining me. the syrian forces deny the government forces were available, instead blaming white helmets. that doesn't seem plausible, what do you think? >> it doesn't seem plausible at all considering the russians and the syrians control all the air space. nobody else flies there. and the syrians have done this many, many times before. it's totally implausible denial. >> absolutely. and u.s. officials are saying the reports confirmed are clearly horrifying and demand an immediate response by the international community. do you think we can expect a u.s. missile strike like the one that followed april's last chemical attack. >> well, we did it last time. and if left up to general mattis, we would respond in the same way. but it is curious about what the president's response will be and whether or not he will permit general mattis to go ahead and retaliate with a missile strike. it will be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of days. every bets that there will be a strike to retaliate

. >> cal, at some point -- i'm going to talk to colonel jack jacobs about this in a minute. at some point it goes from being a response that in theory ends and that the syrians are supposed to respond to, into some sort of military action that doesn't end as quickly and gets more people involved. >> right. and you hope those dominos don't fall. we haven't even mentioned israel yet which seems to be the one country that's acted in the last 72 hours against syria. the other thing, it is like we've given a three-day heads up on hide and seek. we're giving three days to move -- >> we know there are troop movements going on in syria right now. >> those air fields and barracks are being cleared. people are moving air assets. it is likely that we will hit an empty airfield unless we broaden out the strike, united states military decides to broaden out that strike in the name of sending a worthy message -- you cannot use chemical weapons or chlorine gas on a civilian population. >> a number of people have said to a lot of the syrians, to the families of almost the half a million syr

joining us now for more on that and the rest of this news is colonel jack jacobs, msnbc military analyst, medal of honor recipient. colonel jack, it's a pleasure to have you with us. thanks for being with us tonight. let me ask you about the air defense force factor. how serious are syrian air defenses and how much would that have to factor in to planning for this strike tonight? >> well, they're not insubstantial, but we're probably launching missiles, both sea-launched cruise missiles and air-launched cruise missiles launched from b-52s. some distance away. 1,000 miles away perhaps. missiles are extremely difficult to shoot down. we're not very good at it, and the syrians are even less good at it. you can occasionally knock one down, but they're extremely difficult to knock down. but what it sounds like in that -- that announcement that says counterstrikes sounds less like air defenses. a counterstrike usually means a strike on the enemy's positions. now, it would be extremely difficult for them to strike our ships. they're very heavily protected. but what they could do is fly in zones

i want to bring in jack jacobs. and our panel for the next 54 minutes. ale alexa mccabin and erin bleak. all of you friends of the show thank you. i'll start with you colonel, the attack that occurred today a year ago, what would this mean as you listen to this reporting, the president might reluctantly keep some troops in syria. what does this mean when it comes to the fighting against isis and what the impact the president does pull out without this long-term stabilization? >> well, we have a ton of troops there both supporting courage against both isis regime. this works in purposes to some other people in the region, including turkey and ally who wants to get rid of the curds who are in the northern part of syria. and russia and iran who are attempting to extend their influence into the region. russia would love to have reports in syria and maintain some kind of control. iran wants to extend its influence through the middle east and cross purposes to our allies, saudi arabia. i think the president has come to the conclusion that with the large majori

army colonel jack jacobs, and msnbc military analyst. vivian salama, national political reporter for nbc news. let me start with you. obviously a horrific and not the first, but horrific situation in syria. a horrific event over the weekend, and one that john mccain thinks has its origins in the president's words. john mccain saying over the weekend that president trump last week signalled to the world that the united states would prematurely withdraw from syria. bashar al assad, his russian and iranian backers have heard him. and emboldened by american inaction, assad has reportedly launched another chemical attack against innocent women, men and children. is that a fair critique? >> yeah, i think so. but i don't think assad needed any motivation to do what he did. he has done it before without the president saying we're going to leave. but it didn't help. you know, there is a principle of war called the element of surprise. it's never a good idea -- by the way, this president's violated it. the previous president did as well. it's neve

. >> colonel jack jacobs, thanks for shaerg your intelligence with us. >>> up ahead our short-term memorye world's greatest horrors. you wouldn't accept an incomplete job from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one. flonase. >>> welcome back. on the i'm obsessed with memory. today marks holocaust remembrance day. and we were struck by a new survey indicating that memories of the holocaust are fading here in the united states. 70% of adults polled showed fewer people seemed to care about hello cost than they used to. 22% of millennials either haven't heard or aren't sure they have heard of the holocaust. that last number poses a troubling trend. knowledge of the holocaust among younger americans is particularly weak. only 66% of millennials were unable to identify auschwitz, the nassy death camp in poland. the good news in survey is that this memory loss is reversible. 93% of those surveyed said all students thre

army colonel jack jacobs, a heavily decorated combat veteran from vietnam, one of only 71 living recipients of the medal of honor. gentlemen, great to have you both back on, and thank you for doing so. general mccaffrey, what do you make of the initial reports of what went on tonight of you and colonel jacobs have been talking about defining the mission. do you feel that was reached tonight? >> look, brian, i think on balance, it was a very competent military operation commanded by general votel in tampa, florida. i thought the president's statement was well crafted and straightforward. secretary mattis and general dunford unsurprisingly were coherent and focused. it's worth underscoring that this was a very, very limited strike both in the scope and probably more importantly in the target set. we talk about storage facilities, scientific research or production facilities. there's not much research needed to make sarin gas, never mind chlorine. the production facilities for these one-off disastrous strikes against civilians are not giant industrial capacities. so i don't think we did much m

joining me now colonel jack jacobs, natasha bertrand and rosa brooks. colonel jack, i will read you the update. he's added to that, many dead including women and children. mind is chemical attack in syria. area of atrocity is in lockdown making it accessible to outside world. president putin, russia and iran are responsible for backing animal assad, big price to pay. open area immediately for medical help and verification and other humanitarian disaster for no reason whatever. donald trump was recently saying as tuesday that he wanted to pull out completely in syria and now he's not only tweeting about what's happening there but he's invoked the name of vladimir putin in a negative way, something he's never done. >> since he made the comment about pulling out from syria, the central command commander who's responsible for that region said, no, bad idea. and i think that the -- the tweet involving putin is of real interest. trump has been disinclined to say anything bad about putin. that has all the fingerprints of john kelly or jim mattis who helped him

joining us are colonel jack jacobs and from rbc capital markets. with you on what you think is likely to play out over the next several days now that the president quite clearly put these strikes on the table. >> he's going to have to do something he's talked about it so much. we did strike last april after a similar attack i think he's -- he's sort of honor bound to do something after he talked about it so much it might be a slightly stronger attack maybe more missiles from different kinds of platforms, but it's hard to believe that it's going to be anything that is going to try to involve either iran or russians and as a result probably more absent airfields or inconsequently targets. he could target command and control nodes, but when you do that you run the risk of collateral damage including killing iranians and russians, which he doesn't want to do. the ultimate attack, of course, would be on troop units where you wind up killing a lot of their -- a lot of syrian troops. i don't think we'll go in that direction. i think it's going -- in the n

. >>> joining us now, jack jacobs. he's the author of "if not now when, duty and sacrifice in america's time of need." i tried to figure out my own notions about what to do in syria, colonel i finally decided there's two types of people in the world there are people that say that's not our problem and, you know, people die if you die of a chemical weapon, it's not that much different than a child dying in a bombing so why do we go there. then there's other people who say you absolutely need to make a statement so that other people in the future think twice about this we need to stamp this out and no matter what we need to do it where are you? >> well, we have a long tradition of punishing evil doers. we dragged our feet in world war ii, we've regretted it i see nothing wrong with punishing this kind of behavior. the only problem is we've gotten rid of the stockpile he can use it again. the interesting question is why he used chemical weapons in the first place. that town was probably the last rebel strong hold anywhere